Read or Questions?

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Should I read through the Saunders book and take notes on things that look important and things I didn't know for review.. Or should I just focus on doing a ton of questions and reading all the rationals? I Just bought a new LaCharity book, mine was all marked up from school. Should I do saunders questions or is there something better like nclex 4000.. I took the Nclex today and didn't pass after 75 questions so I clearly need work, I also only got 4 hours of sleep even though I was in bed trying for at least 8 all night. So what do you think works best? Reading the review book cover to cover taking notes, or just doing a ton of questions 150-200 day, reviewing the rationals right or wrong, and doing extra review on the ones you get wrong.

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If you feel that you are lacking in content, then you probably should read. But it is also super important to do lots and lots of questions along with reading the rationales b/c that in itself is good for reviewing content.

When I started to study for NCLEX, I did about 5 days of content review and then the rest of the time was spent on questions. I'd look up things that I got wrong if the rationale still didn't make sense. I studied for about 3 weeks and I used Kaplan to prep for the exam and found it very useful. If you search the posts on here I believe people have found the question trainers online for FREE!

I've read that the Saunders questions are not as hard as some of the other sources and is good for reviewing content. Kaplan will help you apply strategies to answer questions. There is also a Kaplan strategy book that you can purchase if you don't want to do the entire program.

Good luck to you, I wish you the best! Take a deep breath and the weekend off to let your mind rest. Then jump back to it on Monday with a fresh, clear mind. You can do this!!

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I'm going to try and rest for the day, tomorrow I want to put a plan together and start fresh this weekend. I have about 6 weeks before I can take the exam again. I think I'm going to review the saunders book making key notes and highlighting things I didn't know. I'll also do corresponding saunder cd quizes for the content I'm covering mixing in Lacharity. I think I'll do this for the first 2-3 weeks to refresh any content I am lacking in. With the remaining 3-4 weeks I'm going to do at least 150 random saunders cd questions a night (The only problem with this is I find saunders reuses so many of the same exact questions from the quizes,study questions, and 100 question exams.). So for fresh material I might look for free Kaplan questions if they exist and do 75 saunders and 75 kaplan. Of course reviewing rational if its right or wrong. I also think I'm going to buy exam cram and do a practice test every week. I think this weekend I might review the Allnurses study guide for helpful tips on how to remember things and such as I come to them in my study fest. What do you guys think of this so far? I'll take any tips you may have!

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Yea I read through that already lol.. It mentions not focusing too much on content but I figure since I have to wait 45 days it wouldn't hurt to brush up on everything first. Also a quick note I have a mac so Nclex 4000 wont work for me and I could not get NCSBN's 3 week course to load on my computer or my work computer. Other then those 2 things I'm pretty much open for whatever. And does anyone know if its 45 days or 45 business days?

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THis post was perfect for my situation! I will be retaking in 45 days, and searching for the best studying material to pass on the next time. @YDRUSSELL you seem to be really knowledgeable about kaplan which is one that im considering, would like to pm you to ask you questions but im new to this site and dont have that capability yet.

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Also, this really cleared up the question i had regarding content vs review. And i feel that they are both equally important so i plan to study them both equally. My first attempt was by doing content only, and i was unsuccessful so i plan on combining them both.

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same with me.. I think I spent too much time on content, and prob even under studied that. I think the plan I laid out is gonna be perfect.

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@Monae2003, I sent you one. Are you able to reply?

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Specializes in LTC.

I agree with YDRussell. I read only content where I was weak but focused on doing questions in that specific content area. Don't give up you can do this !

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Specializes in Pediatric Cardiology.

Learn how to answer NCLEX style questions. I recommend doing as many questions as possible. You will learn a lot just by reading the rationales.

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Yea I def think this is where I went wrong

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